Thursday, January 24, 2013

Prequels seems to be the trend nowadays when it comes to films, TV shows, books, and lots of other things. There are beginnings to virtually everything so no wonder there is a current trend to look back, to see how things began and what series of events happened that led to the development of how things are now (and in some cases, have been). But more often, the reason for a prequel is that sometimes it's just nice to look back.

Heck, even our big pond construction has a prequel to it!

Blast from the past, year 2008 - before the build of the big koi pond, there was the build of this pond, the 'Prequel pond'. The pond that started it all...

Funny how small things can lead into bigger ones, and how one thing can lead into another. It then becomes a chain of events that leads you to something and somewhere new, a place and position that never even crossed your mind before that you will get into and yet find yourself pleasantly surprised that you got there. And from there the journey continues to move on. Such is life!So how did we end up wanting to construct a large koi pond then? The prequel to the big pond is a small pond, a goldfish pond for that matter. And it was only ever going to be a goldfish pond but one thing led into another...

One of the simple pools of water that we've seen on our travels that inspired us to build this pond, but for our garden it will have goldfish in it.

We are gardeners and we love our plants but had always wanted a garden water feature that was formal in shape and similar to some of the small pools of water we've seen on our previous travels (see above). And it would have to have several goldfish in it as it's nice to see some colour and life in the pool of water, as well as finding it relaxing to watch fish swim by. With the pool of water having fish in it, the water must be conducive to fish life hence it would have to have filtration, and a UVC too which will help keep the water clear by preventing algal bloom (green water) so we can see the fish.So we wanted a goldfish pond to complement the garden. Planning was made and construction begun...

The area we chose to site this pond was right down the bottom of the garden where a pig sty used to be (one of the previous owners kept pigs as pets!), where a thick concrete base has been laid even before we bought the property

Early beginnings....

Up goes the breeze blocks!

Walls are all up. This pond build didn't take long as there was no digging involved (because a concrete base was already there).

Up next, building the smaller pool where water from the filter will go to, which will then cascade towards the main pool to create sound and aerate the pond.

But before we can proceed to the final stages, the pond liner must be put in first and the pond filled with water.

By filling the pond first it will ensure that the pond liner is taut and tight against the walls, after which you can then cement down the coping stones.

Coping stones all down on the main pool, just the little pool now left to finish

All done! Now all we needed to do was switch on the filters to clear the water and add goldfish. But we didn't stop at goldfish...

And once it was done it should be easy enough to maintain and we can carry on gardening and pursuing plant interests, we are gardeners after all and not fish keepers (apart from tropical fish in fish tanks). But it was a big goldfish pond, filtration seems good then so why not add one or two more bigger fishes in it, i.e. koi, just to add a bit more 'ooomph' into the pond? With this in mind, a fateful visit to a koi dealer near us was made and it was never the same afterwards...

We saw 'living jewels' and we were hooked....

Looking back at these photos and looking at this pond now, we will always have a sense of fondness for the experience of building this and having it in our garden. Especially now we're planning to deconstruct and rebuild it (perhaps this year, maybe next?) to make it more ideal to keeping koi, rectify the mistakes that were made, and integrate all the retro fitting that had to be done to modify this goldfish pond to suit the special needs of koi that we introduced. And speaking of mistakes, we had plenty! It was all part of a learning process, part of the experience and you gain wisdom and knowledge afterwards. Keeping koi was a roller coaster of an adventure for us in the first two years, an adventure that we would have not undergone had if we chosen (or rather been disciplined enough) to just keep goldfish in what really is just a goldfish pond. And I think we've done well, not bad for 'just' gardeners!

The 'Prequel pond'

In my blog post next week it will be all about the adventures (and misadventures) that we had in our first two years of keeping koi and some of the mistakes we made from which we have learned, the precursors that led to us to building a bigger pond, a proper koi pond.Mark :-)

Lovely post. I used to keep tropical fish and marine fish, although this is quite different from keeping fish in a pond, I think the principles would be the same. Many mistakes were made, I ultimately came to the conclusion that no tank was big enough for marine fish. But the process and the learning that comes with such things is invaluable. I love your pond and the garden surrounding it, how peaceful it must be.

Thank you Karen :) The lessons we learned are valuable and is making fish keeping for us now much easier. I agree that the bigger the tank/pond the better for the health of the fish. The principles are mostly the same indeed.

Hey you could use the little one for all the babies your Koi are going to have. :) I can't imagine finishing the big one and some day redoing the little one. I understand the need for things to be just like you want them though.Cher Sunray Gardens

Hi Cher, this pond will be refurbished soon so we can use it to grow on smaller koi, and when they get bigger will then be moved on to the big. And it'll be nice to feel we have two well set up koi ponds rather than just the big one :)

As always, you guys are an inspiration. Thanks for posting about this - apart from anything, just looking at your lush sub-tropical garden made me smile! It's lovely here in Gloucestershire, but very, erm, white at the moment.

Thanks for the lovely words Victoria :) looking back at the photos myself it does remind me of photos of your garden in London too! It's very white here as well and were so looking forward to the thaw and see the plants underneath it once again.

Thanks Holley! Yes the allure of keeping koi was just too strong to resist. It wasn't an easy ride, we learned so much in the first two years, and still learning really. But our past experiences are invaluable and is making koi keeping for us much easier. Extra thanks for calling us koi keepers :)

Hi, I really like looking through project photo-diaries like this, even if it wasn't me doing the work! I wish I had room for a pond - I would fill it with waterlilies (one of my favourite flowers) as opposed to fish though.

Thanks Sunil!We also enjoy looking at others project photo diaries, you get ideas and inspiration from them :) Waterlilies are lovely plants, if we had the space for a large natural pond we'd definitely grow them.

Clearly you are both gardeners AND Koi keepers now, nice to get the back story. Funny, isn't it, how a single decision can set off a chain reaction. In your case, the desire for a few goldfish leading to major building and engineering works and what I am sure will prove to be a life-long addiction! In ours, an accidental holiday in Cornwall led to buying a VW which led to Anglesey and discovering growing from seed and eventually moving here full time and ordering a fancy new propagator! Look forward to the next installment...

Thanks for the post. Now, I got a much bigger picture. That's why prequels are necessary. But, ouch! you guys are going to destroy that and rebuild it!! Oh Dear! you indeed have lots of patience because mixing cement and then using it quickly and effectively before it dries up is no easy task. Did you read any books before you started on the project - otherwise how did you know how to build it?

Hi KL it won't be totally destroyed, the basic blocks etc will remain, we want to make it a bit deeper and incorporate better filtration. Most of the changes won't actually be visible.

We read a lot on line and looked at photos of other people's ponds etc. we are also now members of our local koi club so have been able to ask lots of questions of experienced koi keepers whilst building the new one

Loved reading the back-story on your pond, all our ponds are built directly off the stream, so require digging out each year :) You have made me think I should suggest a lovely construction like yours to dad to build in the nursery, though it might just end up being a buffet for the heron. Best of luck with your future koi tending, they are delightful looking fish.

Thank you :) They are indeed delightful looking fish that we couldn't resist. Having Herons hovering around can be a big challenge to fish keeping, hopefully if you guys decide to build a raised pond you can work through this too.

Hello there, I really loved seeing this prequel :-) Spookily during the month of February I'm going to take a look back at various areas of my garden too - a prequel to gardenwatching you could say ;-) Love the conincidence and your garden. You've inspried me to make a list of what I want to do with my wildlife pond build to get it finished - I'd really love newts to discover it.

This gardening blog follows our journey as we create our Tropical and Exotic themed garden. We hope you'll enjoy the journey as much as we do. We started our Exotic Garden in 2005 and this site will show its development, as well as our travels, both abroad and within the UK to gardens, nurseries and friends.See also our full about page